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My head tingles, reminding me of Mom’s spell. “My mom—”

Knock, knock!

“Come in!” Halen hollers.

The door opens and Oceana, the PA, pokes her head in and looks at me. “Oh, good. You’re here. Mr. Brant wants you to meet him in the weapons room stat.”

“Weapons room?”

Halen grins. “It’s like the gym but way cooler.” She turns to Oceana. “I’ll show her where it is.”

“Thanks. Be sure to hurry. Mr. Brant sounded rushed.” Oceana gives a nod before leaving.

“You might want to change into a tighter-fitting top.” Halen gestures toward my loose-fitting shirt.

I groan. “Do I really have to go?”

“I’ll go with you. You don’t want to piss off Mr. Brant.”

“Why me? Why now?” I force myself up and dig through my closet.

“Testing out the weapons was something we did during initiation week. Makes sense he’d call you before your second week of school.”

“I’m a princess. Aren’t I supposed to just sit around and look pretty?”

Halen snickers. “Now you want to be a princess?”

“I just want to rest. This has been the most exhausting week ever, and don’t forget I spent most of today cleaning the gym.”

“It’s not like you’re going to have to fight a tournament.” She moves past me and looks through my clothes before handing me a tank top and thin hoodie. “You just have to try out the weapons. See which one is best suited for you. That’ll be the one you learn.”

I get dressed. “Which weapon are you using?”

“A mace. It’s pretty cool. The more we bond, the more I can do with it.”

“You bond with your weapon?” I give her a double-take.

She nods. “The more you use it, the stronger the bond. That’s why the upper-year students can do so much more with their weapons.”

“If that’s the case, I wonder why Earwig didn’t use hers against me when they took me into the woods. She just had a knife.”

“You really shouldn’t call her that.” Halen giggles. “But we only use our weapons in class. We can finally take them home after graduation.”

“I wonder which weapon I’ll get.”

Her eyes light up. “Maybe you’ll get the trident! Everyone in the Royal school wants it, but almost nobody ever gets it. In fact, there are rumors that the trident in the cabinet has been sitting there for like twenty or thirty years. Maybe longer.”

Since my parents would’ve been students. “Do only heirs to the throne get the tridents?”

“Anyone in the royal class can get one, but not many do. Aqua swords are popular, as are spears and bows and arrows.”

“So, the mace is rare?”

“Somewhat. I was one of only two kids in our year to get one.”

“Nice.”

She shrugs. “Let’s go. Like I said, we don’t want to keep Mr. Brant waiting.”